Petrol and diesel prices to go up

E-Paper | March 18, 2026

ISLAMABAD: The prices of petrol and other major petroleum products are estimated to go up by more than Rs4.5 per litre on Saturday because of rising trend in the international market caused by reports of a looming US attack on Syria.

According to an official of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), the declining value of rupee and concern over possibility of a conflict over Syria have pushed up oil prices.

As a result, the ex-depot prices of both petrol and kerosene oil may go up by Rs4.50 per litre. Therefore, the ex-depot price of petrol may be increased to Rs109 per litre from Rs104.5.

Likewise, the ex-depot price of kerosene oil will go up to Rs105.78 from Rs101.28 per litre and of high speed diesel to Rs113.06 from Rs109.76.

The price of light diesel oil (LDO) will be increased by about Rs2 per litre to Rs98.12 and of high octane blending component (HOBC) to about Rs5 per litre to Rs134.

The retail price of petroleum is usually 30-40 paisa per litre more than the ex-depot price fixed by the government because of transportation cost from depots to the retail outlets.

The official said the Ogra was recommending to the government to absorb a part of the proposed increase in the petroleum levy instead of passing on full impact to consumers already facing inflationary pressures.

He said the government was currently getting about Rs8bn per month on account of petroleum levy on petroleum products and another Rs21bn revenue from general sales tax.

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Khaleeq Kiani is an Islamabad-based reporter for Dawn, specializing in political economy, governance, business, finance, macroeconomics and energy. He can be found on X at @khaleeqkiani.

Petrol, diesel prices raised

Amir Cheema

Aug 30, 2013 08:23am

Hydel power projects are the need of the hour. God has blessed Pakistan with enormous potential for hydel energy but we instead are spending our precious foreign exchange on importing petroleum or natural gas from middle east to meet our energy needs including electricity generation. We should learn from India how it has built numerous hydel projects to meet its energy needs despite objections by Pakistan. Cheap electricity is the lifeline of economic progress. If we tap our own resources and become self sufficient in our electricity generation we could switch to electric cars, buses, trains etc and avoid further national debt. All we need is a leader who can forge unity among political parties and the people.

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msalvi

Aug 30, 2013 04:33pm

Same old habit - looking for excuses to raise prices. How can the sales tax go up due to pressure on oil prices!

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sikandar

Aug 30, 2013 05:48pm

frustration will increase among our countrymen and they overcome it by tease each other in their different ways of getting money, so sad for our sweet Pakistan,we all hope for all thes best.

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malikk

Aug 31, 2013 07:59am

Thanks very much for increasing the prices this way atleast the govt can make-up for some of there poersonal expenses.my request to the govt specially MID (Mian Ishaq Dar) not to give any kind of relief to the public & keep raising the prices with the pretext of International prices thus never bring the prices down as you are ruling the govt for the last time.

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armaghan

Aug 31, 2013 04:14pm

govt of Pakistan only thinks about budget deficits not for people. i wonder when half of nation is displaced in other countries the rest barely able to meet two ends of month what better a move like this can do in our country.generation of taxes can only be achieved with propagating economy not with dying.

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Javed S Ahmad

Sep 01, 2013 02:52am

Whenever oil prices increase in the international markets, prices have to increase in Pakistan too. Pakistan government does not subsidize these prices, in fact, makes a bundle through taxes. We can blame government for taxing oil so much but it is too tempting for the government to dip into the stream of income coming so easy. For one, it is probably the single biggest source of revenue that is collected by the Treasury at a cost of next to nothing. I feel terrible these facts are never shared with the public by the media or the government. What Ogra says is right but not likely to paid heed to. Our sad reality is that government is helpless. Because a majority of people of Pakistan do not pay taxes and cost of collection is sometimes more than the collected tax. In fact, it is same principle behind collection of taxes on cigarettes, soft drinks, and telephone calls, among others. If we want prices of gasoline reduced, we should start paying up taxes due on us. It is that simple. .

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